I have to laugh when I read all these stories about the discontinuance of the incandescent lamp and certain flourescents.

In the 80's, 90's through 2001 I worked for Graybar Electric, doing lighting as my primary sales duty, along with other things. The EPA, Government along with consumer watchdogs all agreed that with the amount of power needed and being used in the US alone that something had to be done to save precious energy, particularly since the grids are old and overworked. These compacts flourescents, the energy saving ballasts and flourscent tubes were the best answer and could conserve the most energy while also saving on cooling systems due to the heat these older types of lamps generate. The newer models while more expensive, last for years, generate far less heat and use 13 watts compared to the 60-100 watt incandescents. It really wasn't a conspiracy, it was an effort to relieve the overworked grids. Many people don't like them but sooner or later, we will all be using them unless we find other ways to cut back on electricity and cooling. No one was trying to keep people from buying cheaper lamps, it really was an effort to conserve energy. I was on the committee and I would not lie about this. In addition, the added benefit of being safer was an after thought. Many fixtures using older types of high heat producing lamps have caused fires and serious burns. Again, you can still buy regular incandescents and flourescents, but they have to be the ES (energy saving type). The old basement F40 fixtures have been replaced with F32 ballasts and lamps, they run cooler and use 8 watts less. The low heat incandescents such as the A100's are now A100/80es, they use 80 watts instead of 100.

As far as safety goes, yes, Westinghouse/Phillips, GE, Sylvania/Osram are the recommended brands as opposed to Lights of America, ABBA, etc. Lights of America used substandard materials and was sued by Marriott after a devasting hotel fire in the early 90's. Sometimes, store brands are safe, some aren't. One way to tell for sure, if they burn hot, burn out well before their expected life, best not to use that brand. As tough as it is financially for most of us, Dollar Store brand lamps are a no-no for sure. It's just not a safe bet. Same for and small strands of lights at Christmas. If you touch them and they are hot, don't use them, they really are a fire risk. That is the #1 reason they wanted to get people away from the old fashioned C9 large white and colored bulbs, they burn hot and cause fires that we all sadly hear at Christmas, it's not the wiring it's the heat.

Now that I've put you all to sleep or in a coma, lol, have a great day.

Planned Obsolescence was also a serious proposal to end the Great depression of the 1930's.

Keynesian economic policies say the government should pump money into the economy in time of stagnation/depression... along a similar vein a British economist recommended putting people to work making "cheap" often replaceable units as a way to stimulate jobs...